Birmingham Brummies v Leicester Lions

Report

LEICESTER raced to an emphatic 57-33 win at Birmingham to take full control of their Premiership KO Cup quarter-final tie.

Skipper Max Fricke scored a 13+2 for the Lions who were in ruthless form, the Australian completing his full house by passing fellow countryman Keynan Rew to win Heat 15.

Ryan Douglas impressed for the rampant visitors with 11 and last-minute signing Drew Kemp notched 9+2 at reserve including a stunning Heat 13 win after team-mate Sam Masters had been disqualified.

Rew impressed for the Brummies with nine points, but the home heat leaders were unable to get to grips with their opponents.

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “It was a complete effort, everybody scored points, Max led from the front with his paid maximum, and we were solid throughout.

“I know they had a couple of chain issues, but for us even when Sam had a bike problem before Heat 13, Drew then popped out to beat riders of the class of Tobiasz Musielak and Matej Zagar, so it was our night.

“To be honest, if anything I can see Birmingham scoring more on Thursday than what they scored tonight. We were good, they struggled, so it was a combination of both, but from a Leicester point of view we were sharp and dominant.”

Brummies manager Chris Adams said: “It’s not how we wanted to start our season off whether it’s the Cup or not. We were well below par and second off the gates all night.

“Take nothing away from Leicester though, they were far better than us out the gates, and that’s just the way it went unfortunately for us.

“We’ve got seven new guys, none of them are used to racing here week in, week out and let’s be fair, Leicester are a good team, they’re solid and probably out of all the teams in the league, they’re probably going to be the best ones that come to Birmingham.”

BIRMINGHAM 33: Keynan Rew 9, Jonas Jeppesen 5, Matej Zagar 5, Jason Edwards 5, Tobiasz Musielak 4, Antti Vuolas 3+3, Michael Jepsen Jensen 2+1.
LEICESTER 57: Max Fricke 13+2, Ryan Douglas 11, Drew Kemp 9+2, Kyle Howarth 9+1, Luke Becker 7+1, Sam Masters 7, Sam Hagon 1+1.

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Photo credit: PHIL McGLYNN